ARTIST: Rick Ross
ALBUM: Mastermind
LABEL: Def Jam
RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2014
Ross Tha Boss
Written by Jeremy Weeden
Perennial hip-hop heavyweight Rick Ross returns with his 6th studio album, Mastermind, and it may be his most complete work yet. Rick Ross has come a long way since his debut album, 2006’s Port of Miami, to become one of the biggest names in the rap industry. With Mastermind, he also hopes to cement his place as one of the most talented. Mastermind is a throwback to the 90’s golden age of rap and one of the few records to come out today that could hold its own in that era.
Mastermind begins with the soulful “Rich Is Gangsta” produced by Black Metaphor. The next track, “Drug Dealer’s Dream” finds Ross rapping about the ups and downs of drug dealing with lines like “Is this a drug dealers dream/Cause all I ever see is niggas dyin from disease/Mansion on the water, home in the hills/Let the Fed tell it, it really isn’t his.” Following a skit where a lady calls the police during Rick Ross’s 2013 incident where he was shot at in Fort Lauderdale, comes the track “Nobody.” This song samples Biggie’s “You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)” and features the original Bad Boy himself, P. Diddy along with French Montana.
The album continues with the outstanding track “Devil Is a Lie” featuring Jay Z. Rick Ross and Jay trade barbs over a hard-hitting, horn-heavy beat. Jay Z does what Jay Z does best and delivers an excellent verse with clever lyrics like “You seen what I did to the stop and frisk/Brooklyn on the Barney’s like we own the bitch/Give the money to the hood, now we all win/Got that Barney’s floor lookin like a VIM/Black hoodie, black skully/Bravado like Mavado, boy I’m that gully/Gettin white money but I’m still black/All these niggas claiming king but I’m still that/King Hova, Mansa Musa/From a lie the devil is a lie, I’m the truth yeah.”
“War Ready” features Ross’s longtime adversary Young Jeezy. The beef is over between the two and they come together on this bass heavy track that is sure to be a club favorite.
“What a Shame” featuring French Montana has a chorus that reinterprets both Wu-Tang’s “Shame on a Nigga” and Camp Lo’s “Luchini.” This classic boom bap track is easily one of the album’s best.
Rick Ross slows things down with “In Vein” featuring The Weeknd. This track has a catchy chorus and is probably a future single. “Sanctified” features Betty White along with Kanye West and Big Sean. This melodic track features verses from both Ross and Kanye West. Rick Ross gives a shout out to Cash Money and B.G. with the lines “Double M that be the Army, better yet the Navy/Baby seen me in that Wraith, wanna have my baby.”
“Thug Cry” is another of the many standout songs on Mastermind. The song’s beat samples Billy Cobham’s “Heather” best known for its use on Souls of Mischief’s hit “93 Til Infinity.” Over another beat that is classic boom bap at its core, Lil Wayne and Ross both drop worthy verses.
“Blessing in Disguise” features southern rap legend Scarface and fellow Texas rapper Z-ro. Scarface shows he hasn’t lost a step with lines like “You was doing 50 in the 35, the ending is/You fit the description of the subject in this incident/We gone have to take you downtown for some questioning/Damn a blessing in disguise if you ask me/I was just about to hit the highway with my last key/Could it be that maybe God is intervenes/With my life like he did so many times in between/A half a block away from the crime scene/A minute earlier and that was me, think.”
Mastermind is an excellent wide-ranging album with good beats and lyrics. Unlike some of Rick Ross’s other albums, Mastermind is not mostly composed of club singles. The album has a lot of quality songs that will become hits and will help ensure Rick Ross continues to be known as not only one of the biggest names in rap, but also one of the most talented.